Editorial: Connecting rural areas to the world

Most of us take high-speed Internet access for granted. It is something that comes along with cable television — the soup and sandwich of our digital connections.

But high-speed Internet access also is an important tool for economic development and education — just as important as good roads, adequate sewers and quality public schools.

Communities that have deficits in these elements are the ones that need access to high-speed Internet the most, but they also are the ones least likely to have it.

How to get these rural areas connected is the focus of a public Broadband Summit Oct. 22-23 in Memphis, sponsored by the state-federal Delta Regional Authority, comprised of eight states, and broadband advocacy groups.

According to Kourtney Hollingsworth, regional broadband director for Mississippi, some 26 million Americans remain without access to broadband, with 73 percent of those living in rural areas such as the Mississippi River Delta. Federal estimates indicate about one-third of U.S. households, about 100 million people, lack high-speed Internet at home.

For poor rural areas in the Delta regions of states such as Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi, the lack of digital connectivity represents another barrier that has to be cleared along the road to prosperity. Those who doubt that have only to look at fast-growing DeSoto County, which is working urgently with Mississippi officials to close gaps in high-speed Internet coverage there.

Businesses, most of which depend on high-speed Internet to remain profitable, may be reluctant to locate in communities lacking broadband. That can cost new jobs in areas where jobs are badly needed. Schools depend on broadband to enhance classroom instruction. Broadband allows people to conduct a host of business and health care transactions from their homes or the nearest public library.

High-speed Internet also opens up a world of knowledge and communication for young people and adults whose life circumstances have made it difficult for them to explore the world outside their home counties.

For poor, rural communities, high-speed Internet is more than a high-tech toy. Without widespread access, areas with high poverty and low educational attainment, like the Mississippi River Delta, will have a tougher time fully developing the economic development initiatives and education reforms needed to attract businesses. And residents of those areas will have a limited view of and limited contact with the wider world.